Seven Time Management Tips I Am Putting To Use In 2014

I am not one for New Year’s resolutions, but I do find it helpful to reflect on the past year and think about ways to make improvements on your life and work for the upcoming year. As I am reflecting on the past year, I am realizing that I have been BUSY with my business. Very busy. In fact, I’ve gotten out of touch with friends and family …

You’re wrong about what engages employees

Last week, I was struck once again by how wrong leaders often are about what engages employees. As I was outlining a plan for culture workshops with the senior leadership team at a client organization, I described a brainstorming activity for the employees in the room to come up with ideas for making each other’s day and creating a positive work …

Policy or Passion – what rules your organization?

Wouldn’t it be great working in an organization where people were happy to come to work, got their work done efficiently and had fun doing it? Unfortunately, I’ve seen leaders stifle the passion and fun that can be had at work in the name of policy or tradition or just because they don’t understand the positive effects on business …

Leadership and Life Lesson: Don’t Deny The World Your Brilliance

I recently had the good fortune to moderate a panel of four fabulous women leaders – Kirstine Stewart, the head of Twitter Canada, Olivia Chow, MP, Sara Plant, former CEO of BMO Trust Company, and Wendy Cukier, founder of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University. These leaders each had unique perspectives and I had a fabulous time asking …

Save your company from the undead with a 10th man business strategy

It happened again. I stepped away from work for an evening to enjoy a movie and some time with family… and the next thing you know, I’ve been inspired by World War Z to write a blog post about business strategy… (I apologize ahead of time for the zombie puns). First of all, if you haven’t seen the movie and enjoy zombies, it’s …

3 Workplace Lessons from the Servants at Downton Abbey

Last night, I attempted to turn off my working brain and just enjoy some television… I have heard so much about Downton Abbey, so I powered up Netflix and watched the first two episodes. The only problem is that somehow my brain started connecting dots between the situations in the show and workplace lessons… just like when I tried to relax …

Work Sucks! Five Critical Learnings about Going ROWE

How many times have you heard: Work sucks lately? How many times have you said it? It may be because I recently read “Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It” by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler, and just received my copy of “Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It“, but I’ve been hearing these words – or some variation of them …

Tech Tool Tuesday: Online Leadership and Team Development Tools from Actionable Books

Today’s Tech Tool Tuesday post is about a tool for leaders who want to build stronger teams, called Actionable Books. Full disclosure – I liked this tool so much that I became an “Actionable Coach”, which means that I have been trained in the philosophy, tools, and how to use them successfully, and that I sell this tool. This …